Parent accused of stealing from school band program

More than $22,000 has gone missing from the Okanagan Mission Secondary school band parents program and police have charged one of the parents themselves with taking it.

A 47-year-old Elizabeth Sherwood of Kelowna has been charged with theft, fraud and uttering forged documents after the money went missing from a fundraising account in 2010/11.

Last February, Kelowna RCMP received a report that money was missing from an account that parents maintained outside the school to support the OKM Band Program. When they tried to review the account, it showed unauthorized activity that prompted the call to police. The investigation revealed that 37 cheques had been forged between May, 2010 and August, 2011 with a total loss of $22,894.12 from the account. The former treasurer of the band parents program fundraising account was identified as a suspect early in the course of the investigation.

OPINION I hate to bring it up but it feels like fall outside... Maybe not completely, but that crisp, cool air is slowly creeping into the Valley, reminding us that summer is coming to a close and fall is fast on its heels.